Inmate Search for County Jails and State Prisons
An inmate search tells you where a person is held. The right place to look depends on the stage of the case: county jails hold people after arrest and for short sentences, state prisons hold people sentenced for felonies, and federal prisons hold people convicted of federal crimes. A search by name and state checks the sources for all three.
Searches are private. The person you search is not notified.
Which inmate lookup to use
| Where the person is | Who runs it | Official inmate lookup |
|---|---|---|
| County or city jail | Sheriff or county corrections department | The jail roster or inmate search of that county |
| State prison | State department of corrections | The state offender search |
| Federal prison | Federal Bureau of Prisons | Find an inmate, at bop.gov |
| Immigration detention | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | Online Detainee Locator System, at locator.ice.gov |
The official search page for each state and for the counties we cover is in the Source Directory.
What an inmate lookup returns
- Name, age and an inmate or booking number
- The facility where the person is held
- Charges or the offense of conviction
- Bond for people in jail before trial, and a projected release date for sentenced inmates
Not every system shows a photo. Booking photos appear only where state law allows commercial display and the source provides them.
Using an inmate locator when you only have a name
Official locators work best with an inmate number or an exact date of birth. With a name alone you may get several matches or none, and you have to repeat the search in each county. MugshotLookup starts from the name and the state, lists the official sources for the jurisdiction, and in the full report shows the custody and booking records it finds, each with its source and date.
After you find the person
The official site of the facility is the place for visiting hours, phone accounts, mail rules and money deposits. Use the inmate or booking number from the record when you contact the facility. For release notifications, register with the victim notification service of your state.
Custody is not a verdict
People held in a county jail are often waiting for trial and have not been convicted. An arrest is not a conviction. Charges may have been dropped, dismissed or resulted in acquittal.
Questions and answers
How do I find out what jail someone is in?
Search the jail roster of the county where the person was arrested. If you do not know the county, search the name and the state here to see every official source that covers the state.
Is there a national inmate search?
Not for jails and state prisons. The Federal Bureau of Prisons runs a national locator for federal inmates only. State prisons and county jails each have their own search.
How soon does a person appear in an inmate search?
After booking is complete, usually within a few hours of arrival at the jail. State prison records appear after the person is transferred from the county.
Start with a name and a state
You see the official sources for the jurisdiction before you create an account.
Searches are private. The person you search is not notified.
You have used today's 3 demo searches from this connection. Create your account to keep searching.
This search is paused. The same person was searched several times in a short period from this connection. We limit repeated searches to prevent misuse.
If you are worried about your safety, the National Domestic Violence Hotline answers at 1-800-799-7233 and at thehotline.org.
If this is your own record, you can ask us to remove it for free on the opt-out page.
Preparing your search plan
Official sources for this jurisdiction
| Source | Type | Jurisdiction | Booking photo rule | Official site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open the official site |
Full report sections
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An arrest is not a conviction. Charges may have been dropped, dismissed or resulted in acquittal.
MugshotLookup is not a consumer reporting agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). You may not use this site or any information from it to make decisions about employment, tenant screening, consumer credit, insurance or any other purpose covered by the FCRA.
Is this your own record? Remove or correct it for free.